London: What's In My Makeup Bag

Hello again lovely people! As you all know, I had a little trip to London two weeks ago and it was absolutely fantastic; I'll be making a post in the next few days with some photos and stories from the trip! The hardest part of this trip for me was deciding which makeup to take with me, especially because my usual makeup bag is pretty big and I was only going for three nights! 

The first thing I had to do was find a smaller makeup bag, so I decided on this cute little one from Primark. I have a thing for polka dots so I couldn't resist when I saw it. It has two zip compartments, both quite a decent size, and for £3 it's actually really nice! 

Surprisingly for me, this is probably the smallest amount of makeup I've ever taken away in my case. I knew I had to pick things that I would use both day and night so that I wasn't carrying more than I needed to, especially because I'm not the best at packing!

First up is my facial products. As I said in a previous post, I don't wear foundation every day but as we were going out to see a show one night, foundation was a must! I use the Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclait foundation in the shade BR10. I have quite dry skin and prior to this I'd been using the MAC Studio Fix Foundation which wasn't sitting well on my skin at all. My Mum was the person who told me to try YSL and after seeing this foundation mentioned in one of Pixiwoo's videos, I thought I may as well give it a try; it is the best foundation I've ever used! I also took the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer for using during the day, the MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural Powder and the Body Shop blush in the shade 'Ginger'. I also took the Body Shop Brow and Liner Kit in the Shade 01 for blonde and auburn hair but for some reason it isn't in these pictures, oops!

Next up is my eye makeup and this was the hardest thing for me to decide on due to the abundance of lovely eyeshadows I have! I eventually decided on the Revlon Colourstay 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quads in Decadence and Addictive because I absolutely adore nude eyeshadows and sadly, my MUA Heaven and Earth palette is falling to pieces! Another thing I've invested in is the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion- oh my word, it's amazing. I find that my eyeshadow stays on so much longer with this primer and the pigmentation seems to be a lot better! For mascara, I decided on two little Soap and Glory goodies- the original Thick and Fast mascara and also the Flash Extention one (which is a pretty darn good dupe for the YSL Volume Effet Faux Cil and costs £13 less!). I also took the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner and the Soap and Glory Smoulder Kohl (which has lasted me for ages).

Now for lips! I only took 2 products with me for this trip, one for day and one for night! After my fantastic experience with the two Revlon Lip Butters I bought last month, I decided to buy another, this time in the shade Wild Watermelon which is a gorgeous red. For night, I decided on my favourite red lipstick- the Rimmel London Kate Moss Lipstick in the shade 22.

Finally, a random product- the MUA Pro Base Fixing Mist. I'd been eyeing up the Urban Decay Chill Makeup Setting Spray for a while but on one of my trips to Superdrug I noticed this little MUA offering. For £5, it does exactly what it says on the tin- or in this case, bottle. Just a few sprays after you've applied all your makeup and I can guarantee it stays on for longer. I used it when we went to the show and despite the tears (I shall elaborate in my future post!), my makeup stayed put!

So that's everything! Last post of 2013- I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and here's to 2014!

Sophie

November Favourites

What's this? Another blog post from Sophie in a matter of days? Yes, that would be right! I'm actually going to London tomorrow for a three night stay with some friends, so I'm trying to get all my posts planned and written for the next few weeks. Gosh, I'm so organised!

Anyway, on to the post. Yes, it's that time again...

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer

In case you didn't guess from my review, I absolutely adore this stuff. I think it's such a great product considering the price; the coverage is pretty good and it does make my skin look like it has a little bit of a glow. Definitely one to try!

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural
This is my favourite powder ever; it looks awesome with or without foundation. I wear it every day and I can honestly say it never feels like I have it on, it's so light and has an amazing finish. Although it's quite expensive at £22, I would definitely advise buying it- it usually lasts me about 3 months and that's with consistent usage! There's a good range of shades and I find that the lightest matches my skin tone perfectly. 

Chunky Knitted Cardigans
As everyone probably knows, winter in the UK is always cold so I wanted a nice chunky cardigan that would go with pretty much anything. Let me tell you, I have never had such a hard time looking for a piece of clothing- even finding my prom dress was easier than this! Everywhere I went they were either too thin and far too expensive for what was on offer, or they just didn't look nice. Eventually I found this one in cream in New Look (sadly I don't think they have that particular one on offer anymore, boo!) and oh my word, it's fantastic and yes; it is from the mens section. I love the cable knit pattern it has down the front and also running down each arm, it's so comfortable and actually keeps you quite warm! 

The Originals
Ah yes, another TV show. Basically, the show focuses on three members of the Mikaelson family, Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah, who are the world's original vampires and follows them back to New Orleans, which they built and ran a number of years previously. Now, the town has been taken over by Marcel, a vampire of Klaus' creation, and Klaus wants to reclaim his former power. As a huge fan of 'The Vampire Diaries', I was pretty sceptical when I heard they were going to make this spin-off as it meant that these three characters wouldn't really be featured in the show anymore, and I expected it to flop. Oh how wrong I was. The show is absolutely fantastic, the plot is so clever and the acting is brilliant. The show stars Joseph Morgan as Klaus (an incredibly gorgeous British actor), Daniel Gilles as Elijah and Claire Holt as Rebekah (come on, everyone remembers her as Emma in H20!); give it a watch whether you're a fan of 'The Vampire Diaries' or not.

Flax 9bars
These are an absolute life saver for long days at uni. Being surrounded by so many coffee shops, I'm pretty sure most of my student loan has gone on food from a certain shop.. *coughGreggscough* It was the lovely Hannah that told me to try these and I'm so glad she did. Basically, they're healthy snack bars made from mixed seeds, honey and flax with a carob topping (carob is used a lot as a chocolate substitute) and they're totally gluten and wheat free! I love the fact they're pretty healthy but they trick me into thinking that I'm eating a chocolate bar because of the carob!

Thanks for reading guys, hopefully will manage to put up my next post later today but if not- I shall see you all when I get back from London!
Sophie

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer: Review!

Apologies for my absolutely horrendous posting lately, I've had so much uni work to do but I swear this month will be when I get my blog in shape!

Anyway, on to the reason for this post. I'd been looking for a new concealer for a while and couldn't quite find one I liked. I find it pretty difficult to find a concealer which is relatively cheap and matches my skin tone because of how pale I am, so I had a look online and a lot of people had been raving over the Collection Lasting Perfection one and also the Wake Me Up option by Rimmel. I swatched both on my hand in Boots and decided on Rimmel's offering in Ivory, mainly because I felt the Lasting Perfection one was quite dry and as someone with quite dry skin, this probably wasn't the best option for me.

 I've always had a bit of a love hate relationship with Rimmel's foundations so I was a bit sceptical about this product but I honestly don't know why, it's fantastic. I don't wear foundation every day, so I wanted something that was going to cover up under my eyes, my nose and my awful red cheeks, and this is great. It doesn't have massively high coverage but it does exactly what I want it to!

TOP: applied. BOTTOM: roughly blended (ugh, it looks a bit darker on here sadly)

Now I'm not going to lie, it's not the exact match for my skin tone but it's the closest thing I've found so far! Rimmel say that it has an 'instant anti-fatigue effect' and it definitely makes my skin (especially under my eyes) look a lot more awake. Before this, I had been using the Revlon ColourStay concealer and I can't say I was a massive fan, I found it to be a bit too thick but this one is the opposite; it has a great consistency and blends really well whether you use a brush or just your fingertips. I can definitely recommend buying this, I know I'll be repurchasing it when my current one runs out!

Thanks for reading guys!
Sophie

Revlon 3 for 2: Review!

So a few weeks ago, I was having a bit of a rubbish day (boo!) so I decided to have a little look in Boots because what better way to cheer yourself up than with a bit of retail therapy! I was initially just going in to find a nice lipstick for going out that night but instead I came out with these little gems:

I've been dying to try the Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butters for a while but I couldn't decide which colour to go for because there's so many! I love the packaging for them, I think it's a lot nicer than a lot of the drugstore makeup brands. 

TOP: 'Juicy Papaya' BOTTOM: 'Raspberry Pie'

 Eventually, I decided on the shades 'Juicy Papaya' and 'Raspberry Pie' and oh my word, they are the most fantastic colours ever. I'd been looking for a gorgeous berry coloured lipstick for ages, so finding 'Raspberry Pie' was an absolute joy for me! It's so highly pigmented and looks really nice as a day-to-day lip colour, but also works really well with a night-time look. I'd also been searcing for the perfect coral colour too, so in my eyes 'Juicy Papaya' was ideal. It's not as highly pigmented as you can see in the photo above, but it's ideal for sticking on when I'm at work or for my shorter days at uni. The only downside to these for me is that I've found they chip quite a lot when you first use them. I don't know whether it was me being a wee bit too heavy handed but little chunks just flaked off when it was the first few applications. However, I'm not going to let this put me off and hopefully I'll get myself a few more shades!

I also decided to get the Revlon 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in the shade 'Decadent' and wow, it's brilliant.

I'm usually the sort of person who goes for neutral, nude shades so this for me was a little bit different with the two pink shades. On the back of the packaging, there's a little diagram which suggest which shades should be worn on which part of the eye which is quite handy, but I sort of just go with the flow whenever I do my eye makeup! 

(applied on top of an eyeshadow primer)

From left to right: top left hand shade, top right hand shade, bottom left hand shade, bottom right hand shade.

I find that the top right hand shade, which is a gorgeous gold, looks fantastic across the lid with a bit of the bottom right shade blended through the crease. I also find the two pink shades make great highlighters just to put on the brow bone or lightly on the inner corner of your eye. The shadows are quite well pigmented and do last quite well when applied on top of a primer, definitely going to be trying more of the Revlon eyeshadows!

Thanks for reading, hopefully the next post will be up in a few days!
Sophie

October Favourites!

First things first, I apologise for how awful I am at posting on this! I've had so much work to do for uni I just haven't had the chance to balance everything out yet, buuuuut I have a plan for the rest of this month and I promise I'm going to get better!

Now to the reason for this post.

Yes, it's my first favourites post! It's going to be a mixture of beauty, fashion and just some general bits and pieces so yes, enjoy!

Maybelline Baby Lips

I'm a sucker for anything with cute packaging, so when I saw these I fell in love straight away. I'd heard so many good things about all of the Baby Lips range, so I decided to try Hydrate and Cherry Me because they were on buy one get one half price (yay for bargains!). I absolutely adore the colour of Cherry Me and, although I wouldn't say it was very highly pigmented, a generous application of this and my lips looked and felt great. Hydrate is fantastic for just applying over a lipstick although I'm not as keen on it as I am with Cherry Me.. All in all, they're a fantastic staple for the upcoming winter months and I would definitely say I'll be buying more from the Baby Lips range!

MUA Heaven and Earth palette

I bought this earlier on in the year after constant recommendations and I'm pleased to say, it's fantastic. For £4, it has a gorgeous range of neutral eyeshadows which are ideal for day and night. I've also found that the shades are pretty versatile, for example I've been using one of the lighter matte brown shades when filling in my eyebrows for a night out and the lightest cream shade is a fantastic highlighter! The only downside for me would be that they aren't the most long lasting eyeshadows, but I notice a massive difference with the application of an eye primer. I'll definitely be purchasing another one of these!

Tartan

I adore all things tartan and was over the moon to realise it seems to be the main trend in a lot of high street stores at the moment *coughPrimarkcough*. When I saw it in the shops, not going to lie I went a little tartan crazy (I shall be making a post about all the tartan stuff I own next month, hence why this is a lot shorter than my other favourites!) but in all seriousness, it's such a fantastic trend for autumn and winter. There's nothing better than a gorgeous tartan scarf teamed with a parka and a woolly hat: roll on winter I say!

Doc Martens

These were a very recent purchase of mine and not usually the kind of thing I would initially think to buy. When I was a bit younger, I used to be like "Ew they're awful" but in the recent months I'd been looking at the boots and they slowly but surely grew on me. I got the plain black boots and I can honestly say they are the most fantastic shoes I've ever bought. Yes, they're £100 but they're such a fantastic investment, ideal for the snowy months that will no doubt come our way. After you initially break them in, they are some of the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned and I think they look awesome with so many outfits, whether it be skinny jeans, skater skirts or little floral dresses.

Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn

This stuff is amazing. I've only tried a few of their flavours but they're such good value! Since starting uni, I've loved getting a bag of their Sea Salt popcorn and sitting down to do my work and, not going to lie, there is absolutely loads in a bag! I think I'm slowly going to work my way through the range and I can't wait.

Graceland

Ok, it was inevitable that I was going to mention this at some point. I know the first series has already aired in the US and it started in September over here in the UK, and ever since then I've been hooked. It's based on real events and looks at the life of a group of FBI, DEA and Customs agents who all live together in this safe house in California which they call Graceland. It's got such a good storyline and one of the stars of the show, the fabulous Aaron Tveit, is simply gorgeous. Definitely one to watch, can't wait for the second series! 

Thanks for reading, sorry for the lack of photos in this one (something I will make sure I include in my next favourites!) but I hope you guys liked it!

Sophie

Recent Beauty Purchases!

So yes, this is my first proper post and what better way to start than with some little beauty purchases. I bought all these products over the last few weeks and pretty much all of them are totally new purchases so I'm looking forward to seeing what they're like!

The first thing I bought was the Olay Essentials Complete Care Sensitive Day Cream which I got for £6.66! Usually it's £9.99 but Superdrug had a deal on so I couldn't resist, especially when I was fast running out of it! Previously, I had been using the Simple moisturiser and I don't know if they changed the formula, but it just didn't feel like it was doing the job anymore. However, I absolutely adore this. It's a perfect day-to-day moisturiser and, as I use it with a lot of the other Olay Essentials range, it really helps to make my skin feel lovely and soft (boo for dry, sensitive skin). I would genuinely recommend this to anyone, they do a fantastic range of creams for different skin types and I think they're really affordable.

Now on to all the new products! Again in Superdrug, I bought the Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold (£4.99) and the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Intense Black (£7.99) as I have seen so many people talking about how fantastic these two products are so I figured I should give them a try! I also picked up the MUA Pro Base Fixing Mist for £5.00, which I'm looking forward to using because I really want the Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Setting Spray but, being a student, this is much more in my budget! From Boots, I picked up the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in Ivory for £5.49, another product that I've heard brilliant things from! Finally, I decided to buy the W7 Showing Out Mascara in Blackest Black for £2.99. W7 isn't normally a brand I would go for, but someone at work told me that this mascara is really similar to the Rimmel Scandaleyes one, which is £4 more, so hopefully you'll be hearing good things from this!

General life update! I'm going to see Jessie J on Saturday with my friend which I am super excited for, so I'll more than likely be making a post about that in the not-so-distant future! 

Thanks for reading!

Sophie

First post!

Hello if you're reading this!

Basically, this is going to be somewhere for me to just generally post about little bits and pieces of my life or maybe talk about new products I've been buying.. Just whatever I really fancy! 

I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading (if you do!)

Sophie

:)